Vehicle dashboard cameras

No, there was no incident or event that triggered installing this vehicle safety device. Rather, our decision to implement dashboard cameras is a proactive measure to protect our residents and drivers. It is one of several results from our ongoing safety evaluations for residents and co-workers.

Samsara dashboard cameras record continuously capturing intermittent still images of the road ahead and inside the vehicle every few minutes while the vehicle is in motion or the parking mode. The device only uploads front-facing (outside the vehicle) and in-ward facing footage five seconds before and after all automatically-detected harsh driving events. Sensors programmatically detect these events. Video is not recorded while the vehicle is turned off unless the parking mode is enabled.

The front-facing still images are captured of the road to add visual context to GPS tracking and provide insight into a driver’s route by capturing traffic, road conditions, weather, other drivers’ behavior and other hazards. This is helpful for if a driver is in a not-at-fault accident to pinpoint footage needed for exoneration.

For any safety concerns, authorized staff can make a specific request to Samara to access additional footage.

The device communicates with Samsara’s Vehicle Gateway and determines harsh incidents using an internal accelerometer that captures harsh braking, acceleration or cornering and crashes. The sensitivity depends on the configurable settings, typically based on vehicle type (e.g., car, light truck or heavy duty).

No. Currently the devices do not upload footage of speeding, but the data (location and time) associated with speeding is available in the Samsara Dashboard. If there was a speeding event, our authorized staff can make a specific request through the Samsara Dashboard to access footage during that time period.

No, the live streaming function has been intentionally disabled. If for an exceptional reason the authorized staff needs to live stream a particular trip, the driver will always be notified in the vehicle via audio alerts of when the recording starts and ends.

Footage is only uploaded when the device’s sensors detect a harsh event (harsh braking, acceleration or cornering and crashes), a rolling stop or driver cell phone usage or the driver pushes the Panic Button to record during an accident or hazardous event.

Per Samara, on a typical day, this is less than one incident per vehicle or less than 10 seconds of video. This translates to less than a minute of footage automatically uploaded per vehicle per week.

No, the listening audio feature is disabled so no sounds or conversations are captured.

Yes, faces within the camera’s view inside and out of the vehicle will be captured, along with license plates of other vehicles. This way, if there is a safety concern, the authorized staff members will be able to identify who was present.

Footage is uploaded and stored in the Samsara Dashboard secured cloud up to six years. It is password protected.

Only authorized Country Meadows Home Office fleet management, operations and risk safety staff have access to the data. When needed, Executive Directors also have access for data related only to their campus. These staff members can authorize and download footage to share with police, insurance companies or directly with drivers when necessary.

The dashboard camera has a Panic Button (the blue button). The drivers can activate it during an accident or hazardous event to ensure footage of other drivers or hazard is uploaded automatically into the Samsara Dashboard.

The cameras are tamper-proof. The device only records when it is plugged into Samsara’s Vehicle Gateway, but authorized users are notified if a camera is disconnected.

Every vehicle with a dashboard camera has a sticker on each door: Notice: This vehicle is equipped with a dual-facing safety dashboard camera. Recording occurs during operation for the protection of residents, co-workers and passengers.